Evenepoel targets history in Montreal as Pidcock and Onley lead Britain
Remco Evenepoel will ride for history on Sunday in Montreal.
The Belgian starts the men's elite road race at the 2026 world road championships as the man to beat. He has already won the time trial in Montreal, his fourth world time trial title in a row, and now wants the road race too The Guardian.
No rider has held the world and Olympic titles in both the road race and the time trial at the same time. Evenepoel can change that. He called his build-up "Project Canada" and arrived in form after winning the GP Québec in early September.
He also has a clear opening. Tadej Pogacar, the defending road world champion, is not racing while he recovers from a heavy crash at the Vuelta a España.
The course will test everyone left. The men's race covers 273.7km with almost 4,000m of climbing around Montreal. That is more than six hours in the saddle, with short, sharp climbs that punish tired legs.
Tom Pidcock and Oscar Onley will lead British hopes. Britain has won the men's rainbow jersey — the white jersey with rainbow stripes worn by the world champion — only twice before, with Tom Simpson and Mark Cavendish.
Pidcock arrives with momentum. The double Olympic gold medallist finished second to Pogacar at Milan-Sanremo in March, took ninth at the Tour de France this summer for his best result in that race, and has since won the world mountain bike title and the GP Industria & Artigianato in Italy. He was sixth at the Grand Prix de Montréal in early September, just behind Evenepoel.
His story has shifted too. He left Ineos Grenadiers in late 2024 and has rebuilt his road season around one-day races and explosive climbs. Montreal suits that. He climbs well, descends fast and is dangerous if the race breaks apart late.
Onley offers a second card. He finished fourth at the 2025 Tour de France and won the best young rider classification — the prize for the highest-placed rider under 26 in the overall standings, known as GC — at this year's Vuelta. That marks him as a rider who can survive a long, hard day.
They will not be short of rivals. France's Paul Seixas and Mexico's Isaac del Toro are named among the contenders, with Belgium's Wout van Aert and Ecuador's Richard Carapaz also in the field.
For fans, this means a more open race than usual. Without Pogacar to control it, teams must decide when to chase and when to attack. Expect a small group to fight for gold on the final laps.
Britain also has a leading hope in the women's road race. Zoe Backstedt took silver in the elite women's time trial and now leads the team. She was fifth at this year's Tour of Flanders and handles tough courses well. Demi Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma, Kim Le Court and Lotte Kopecky are among her rivals.
The championships run in Montréal from 20 to 27 September, according to the UCI UCI. Sunday's men's road race closes the week. For Evenepoel, for Pidcock and for the rest, it is the one day that matters most.
